Mayor Alan Long: Murrieta, California is ‘compassionate’ town

Alan Long, the mayor of the town that made headlines when protesters blocked a bus full of undocumented immigrants, said Thursday he wants America to know that despite images of angry protesters, Murrieta, California, is a “compassionate” town.

“We’ve heard some of those passionate people seeing the clips on the news and coming to a conclusion that Murrieta’s not compassionate,” Long told Fox News. “It’s a shame that two minutes of video time on the news channel really stereotypes our city.”

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Video surfaced on Wednesday that showed protesters from Murrieta blocking Homeland Security buses full of undocumented children and adults from entering the town to be taken to facilities for screenings. Protesters held signs that read “Stop Illegal Immigration” and “Illegals Out!” The buses were rerouted to San Diego out of fear for the safety of those on the bus.

“Showing a bunch of angry people isn’t really a true reflection of Murrieta,” Long said.

During his phone interview with Fox News, Long cited the fact that 700 nonprofit charity organizations take up residence in Murrieta as proof that the town is full of “compassionate” people.

“What didn’t make the news is the outpouring of help from all of our base organizations and nonprofits,” Long said. “We had them here ready to go; the problem is we didn’t really know how to utilize them and implement them because, remember, these immigrants are in federal custody, so we didn’t get any information on where they were going or how we can intervene to help.”